The busy festive period of football continues with the traditional Boxing Day fixtures. Liverpool sit top of the Premier League at Christmas, having won seven games on the bounce, which has seen them open up a four-point lead over Manchester City. At the other end, Fulham, Huddersfield and Burnley fill the relegation spaces, so they will be desperate for some festive cheer.
boxing day fixtures
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Liverpool v Newcastle

Liverpool will hope to preserve their lead at the top of the table when they welcome Newcastle United to Anfield on Boxing Day. The Toon Army are down in fifteenth place after drawing 0-0 at home against bottom of the table, Fulham, on Saturday.

Rafa Benitez will be fully aware of the excellent form of his old side, Liverpool, so is likely to set them up to defend in numbers. Success for the home side, who are the only unbeaten team in the division, will see them record an eighth successive win. It’s hard to see Newcastle getting anything from their trip to Merseyside.

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Leicester City v Manchester City

Manchester City suffered a surprise 3-2 defeat at home against Crystal Palace on Saturday, which has seen them slip four-points behind Liverpool. That was their second defeat of the season, and their second defeat in three games.

They travel to Leicester City, a side they beat on penalties last week to reach the semi-finals of the Carabao Cup. Leicester produced their own shock result on Saturday when winning 1-0 at Stamford Bridge against Chelsea.

Man City will know only a win will be good enough, as Liverpool are expected to beat Newcastle, so anything other than maximum points will be hugely disappointing for the Blues. It won’t be easy for Man City, but we seem them just edging this.

Man city to win 1-0 or 2-1 is 13/2 with Betfair

Tottenham Hotspur v Bournemouth

Tottenham welcome Bournemouth to Wembley Stadium on Boxing Day looking for a fifth win in a row. Spurs produced a scintillating display of attacking football at Everton on Sunday, running out 6-2 winners to send out a statement that they need to be taken seriously as title contenders.

They are now five points ahead of fourth-placed Chelsea, but only two-points behind second-placed Manchester City.

Bournemouth are enjoying an excellent season, and their 2-0 defeat of Brighton on Saturday saw them move up to eighth place. However, their away form hasn’t been great and we expect them to struggle to contain Spurs. We’re backing another home win.

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Elsewhere in the Premier League, fourth-placed Chelsea will want to bounce back following that surprise defeat to Leicester, but they face a tough looking trip to seventh-placed Watford. Arsenal, who are fifth, make the trip to the seaside to face Brighton, whilst Manchester United who are sixth, welcome struggling Huddersfield to Old Trafford. This will be Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s first game in charge at the Theatre of Dreams, but he will have certainly enjoyed his first game as manager, watching United run out 5-1 winners at Cardiff.

Wolves three game winning streak came to an end on Friday night when they lost 2-0 to Liverpool, but they can get back to winning ways at bottom of the table, Fulham. Everton, who will still be reeling from their hammering at the hands of Tottenham, make the trip to eighteenth-placed Burnley, with both sides struggling to find wins of late.

West Ham’s recent good form came to an end on Saturday, losing 2-0 at home to Watford. They make the trip to Southampton, who have won their last two games under new manager Ralph Hasenhuttl.

And finally, fresh from that excellent 3-2 win at Manchester City, Crystal Palace host Cardiff City looking for a third win in a row.